The Guardian-China to launch ambitious mission to far side of the moon amid Nasa space race concerns
May 3, 2024 3 min 497 words
西方媒体的这篇报道主要内容是：中国将于周五向月球背面发射嫦娥六号探测器，这是中国在未来几年内计划进行的 thrice 任务的第一步，目标是要在2030年前实现载人登月。这次发射将增强中国在2030年前实现载人登月的雄心。但这次任务也引起美国这个中国主要竞争对手的关注，因为它担心中国可能利用太空计划来增强其地缘政治影响力。美国航天局负责人称，中美两国正在进行一场新的“太空竞赛”。中国则表示，其太空计划是和平的，并将与所有国家合作共建共享未来。 评论：这篇报道体现了西方媒体对中国航天事业发展的关注，但也存在一定的偏见和误解。报道中提到的美国对中国太空计划的“担忧”实际上是缺乏事实依据的猜疑和忌惮，体现了美国在航天领域的霸权主义思维。中国一直致力于和平利用太空，中国的航天事业发展对全人类太空探索事业有重要贡献。此外，报道中也有对中国太空计划的部分肯定，如提到中国愿意分享嫦娥五号采集的月球样本，这体现了中国在太空领域的国际合作精神。总的来说，西方媒体应客观公正地报道中国，不要以意识形态划线，抹黑中国。
China will attempt another mission to the far side of the moon on Friday, the first of three planned over coming years as part of its goal to land a human on the lunar surface by 2030.
The launch of the uncrewed Chang’e-6 is expected sometime between 8.30am GMT and 11am GMT and the mission – if successful – would go far to bolster China’s ambitions to put a man on the moon by 2030.
However the mission has also drawn concern from China’s major rival, the US, over Beijing’s geopolitical intentions amid what the head of Nasa has called a new “space race”.
Since the first Chang’e mission in 2007, named after the mythical Chinese moon goddess, China has made leaps forward in its lunar exploration, narrowing the technological chasm with the United States and Russia.
With no direct line of sight with the Earth, Chang’e-6 must rely on a recently deployed relay satellite orbiting the moon during its 53-day mission, including a never-before attempted ascent from the moon’s “hidden” side on its return journey home.
The same relay satellite will support the uncrewed Chang’e-7 and 8 missions in 2026 and 2028, respectively, when China starts to explore the south pole for water and build a rudimentary outpost with Russia, in an effort to achieve Beijing’s aim of putting astronauts on the moon by 2030.
As part of its mission, the Chang’e-6 will attempt to retrieve samples from the south pole Aitken Basin, the largest and oldest impact crater on the moon, situated on the side permanently facing away from Earth. Experts say the samples which could answer questions about a significant period of solar system activity billions of years ago.
Should the mission be successful, the Chinese National Space Administration (CNSA) is expected to share the samples internationally, just as it did with the moon rocks collected during the 5th Chang’e mission – the first collected since the US Apollo missions.
That mission in 2020 confirmed for the first time that China could safely return an uncrewed spacecraft to Earth from the lunar surface.
China’s space program is central to the government’s overall national strategy, and is widely celebrated within the country as a demonstration of the nation’s technological advancement.
Beijing’s polar plans have worried Nasa, whose administrator, Bill Nelson, has repeatedly warned that China would claim any water resources as its own. Beijing says it remains committed to cooperation with all nations on building a “shared” future.
Nelson has also warned of China bolstering its space capabilities by using civilian programs to mask military objectives, cautioning that Washington must remain vigilant.
Reuters contributed to this report